Posts Tagged ‘Ontario Non-profit Network’

ONCA Delayed Indefinitely

September 18th, 2015 by Brian Iler

The Ontario Government’s non-profit corporate law reform has been delayed once again, this time, indefinitely.

In an announcement yesterday, the Government’s commitment to bringing the Ontario Not-for-Profit Corporations Act into effect by 2016 was pushed off into an indefinite future.

The Act was passed by the Legislature in 2010, and was expected to come into force shortly thereafter.

But, led by Ontario Non-Profit Network ‑ which was formed to voice the non-profit sector’s objections to many of the provisions in the Act ‑ a vigorous sector-wide campaign led to the Ontario Government agreeing, belatedly, to fix some key problems the Act contained.

Those fixes have yet to be implemented, and appear not to be much of a priority with the current Government.

Now, it appears that the Government intends to replace existing technology for managing its corporate database, and that implementing that new technology has become another roadblock.

For non-profits incorporated under the Ontario Corporations Act, which has been essentially unchanged since 1953, it’s business as usual for a few more years, as the Government promises at least 24 months’ notice of the new Act coming into force, and another three-year transition thereafter.

Should social enterprises have a special corporate structure?

May 31st, 2014 by Iler Campbell

The United States, the United Kingdom, British Columbia and Nova Scotia each have regulation which allows for “hybrid enterprises,” entities with both profit- making and non-profit goals. In a June 2010 report on the Canada Business Corporations Act (CBCA), the House of Commons Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology asked if the CBCA should be amended to include these entities too.

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Non-profit law: ONN asked. Government listened

March 28th, 2013 by Brian Iler

Breaking news.

For some time now, Ontario Nonprofit Network has been highly critical of the as‑yet unproclaimed Ontario Not‑for‑profit Corporations Act. The Ontario Government hadn’t listened much.

Until now.

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What’s Wrong with the New Ontario Not for Profit Corporations Act

September 10th, 2012 by Brian Iler

While Ontario’s non‑profit law sorely needs updating, the Ontario government’s recent initiative to do so has resulted in a deeply flawed replacement.

In drafting the new ONCA, the government prioritized two objectives:

  • Ensuring it closely mirrors the law applicable to businesses
  • Empowering members to participate more fully in a corporation’s activities.

While there’s much to modernize about non‑profit corporate law, the introduction of many business law concepts was not tempered by the differing realities of the non‑profit world.

Couple that with a highly legalistic drafting style, the new Act will be inaccessible for many, and  force many less sophisticated non‑profits to seek more legal advice than they might have in the past.

The result: an Act that is certainly not responsive to, or knowledgeable about, the sector.

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